Mississippi 27, The Citadel 7

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) Micheal Spurlock threw for one touchdown and ran for another, and Mississippi shook off a sluggish first half to defeat The Citadel 27-7 on Saturday.<br> <br> Spurlock directed three straight scoring drives in the second half for the Rebels (2-3), who led 10-7 in the third quarter before scoring the final 17 points against the Division I-AA Bulldogs to snap a three-game losing streak.<br> <br> Freshman Mico McSwain rushed for 105 yards on 20 carries for Ole Miss, which won for the first time since beating Memphis on Labor Day in Ed Orgeron&#39;s first game as coach.<br> <br> The Rebels held The Citadel (2-3) to 81 yards of total offense. The Bulldogs&#39; only score came in the third quarter when Avery Dingle intercepted Robert Lane&#39;s pass and returned it 44 yards for a touchdown.<br> <br> Spurlock returned on the next series and broke the game open by leading three consecutive scoring drives. He ran 1 yard for a touchdown and threw a 4-yard scoring pass to Mike Espy before Robert Bass kicked a 23-yard field goal to complete the scoring.<br> <br> Playing with a broken middle finger on his left, non-throwing, hand, Spurlock finished 20-of-29 for 254 yards.<br> <br> For the second time this season, The Citadel was competitive for a half against a I-A team. The Bulldogs, who trailed No. 4 Florida State 13-10 at halftime of an eventual 62-10 loss, kept this one close for a while, too.<br> <br> Ole Miss led 3-0 at halftime on a 44-yard field goal by Will Moseley, and the Rebels had minus-16 yards rushing in the first half.<br> <br> Travis Johnson returned a fumble 16 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the third quarter to extend the Rebels&#39; lead to 10-7.<br> <br> Quarterback Justin Knox struggled in his first start replacing Duran Lawson, who injured his left knee last week against Western Carolina. Knox finished 5-of-14 for 21 yards.<br> <br> Ole Miss was playing a I-AA opponent for the first time since 2001.<br> <br> (Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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